Series for the brides: Getting ready shots
This is a series that I have. The second in the series (first looks) can be found here!
Weddings can be super stressful to plan! Even now with pinterest there is a feeling of planning the PERFECT wedding. What really matters is planning the perfect wedding for you and your future spouse! I am going to start a series that you can read before you plan anything from a photographers point of view. Just some things to consider. I’ve been to countless weddings and so I hope to impart some wisdom to make your wedding day truly stress-free. If you think about these details before hand, I think it will provide you with a seamless day. Stay tuned for more…
Getting ready shots. These are the time where you and your girls are getting are prepared for the ceremony. This usually happens in hotel rooms, homes, church choir rooms, or somewhere like this. A good general rule to get great photos at this point is to remove clutter. During my wedding day getting ready shots I jokingly told my bridesmaids “ok, ladies the photographer’s coming in soon for photos. Let’s get rid of everything ugly. Millie (my best friend) you get under the table”. ha! I could only tell her that because she literally is drop dead gorgeous.
At this stage you’ll want to put everything that is unsightly out of the way, maybe even delegate someone else to be in charge of this . You can hide things under tables, under beds, or in the bathroom. You can get cute matching containers for your girls to put all their stuff in. This also applies to the guys place they’re getting ready too. I will get some shots of them getting ready and if they can prepare their room to remove any unsightly things that’d be great too! This also factors choosing more aesthetically pleasing rooms for getting ready. If there is a choice between a room with huge windows verses a room in the back of the church that has hand drawn stencils on the walls, then I’d pick the window room. When you’re booking a place, always ask to see the rooms they have for you and the groom to get ready.
In general I try to take things off the walls if it’s disctracting in the getting ready photos. I try to do this as much as I can and there are some exceptions. One exception is in the bride photo below. There is a cool painting on the wall on the right. In general, hotels have ugly things hanging on their walls so for better photos, let’s just remove it. We’ll put it back after! Don’t worry about nails I can remove those later very easily
At this point I also like to take photos of your wedding dress and possibly some part of the groom’s attire. The photos of your dress on a personalized hanger looks so much better than the hanger that your dress comes with. Here are some great options to get something like that. Thank goodness for etsy!
In planning the getting ready stage I’d also suggest planning for at least two and a half in between getting ready and the time the ceremony starts. I’ll go into that later but that would give time for the most perfect wedding shots you’ve dreamed for.
